The Wine Attributes with the Greatest Influence in the Process of Consumer Choice in Spain

The commercialisation of wine in Spain is problematic due to two concrete circumstances: the decrease in wine consumption because of a consumer shift toward substitute drinks and the greater presence of national and foreign wine in the interior market, which involves an increase in business competitiveness. The increase in competitiveness of quality Spanish wine depends on producing enterprises’ knowledge of wine consumer preferences so they can offer consumers what they demand. In order to respond to this matter and better adapt supply, 421 wine consumers were surveyed using the Best-Worst Scaling methodology. Various segmentations were also made by consumer income and age groups. The results indicate that the two main attributes which condition consumers in choosing wine are the region of origin and having tasted it previously. The region of origin attribute is valued in general by consumers over 34 years old who have a monthly family income above 1,500 €. The attribute of having tasted it before, which on many occasions is associated with the price attribute, is valued particularly by younger consumers and those with lower incomes.Consumer behaviour, Wine attributes, Food Marketing, Consumer/Household Economics,

DETERMINATION OF THE SURCHARGE THAT CONSUMERS ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR AN ORGANIC CHEESE IN SPAIN

Consumer requirements for preferably new, quality products with health guarantees are causing competitive adaptation by agro-food businesses. In this sense, cheese-producing enterprises are immersed in restructuring to adapt to the new scene. To assure the greatest possible success in this process it is advisable to determine what the preferences of cheese consumers are. In searching for the answer to this question, 420 surveys were made on regular food shoppers for at-home consumption in the metropolitan area of Madrid (Spain). Treatment of this data consisted in using the Conjoint Analysis technique and maximum willingness to pay. Results show that the main differentiating element for cheese is origin and the maximum willing to pay for an organic cheese with respect a conventional one is 15.42%.Consumer behaviour, Organic, Food Marketing, Demand and Price Analysis,

Robotics rehabilitation of the elbow based on surface electromyography signals

Physical rehabilitation based on robotic systems has the potential to cover the patient’s need of improvement of upper extremity functionalities. In this article, the state of the art of resistant and assistive upper limb exoskeleton robots and their control are thoroughly investigated. Afterward, a single-degree-of-freedom exoskeleton matching the elbow–forearm has been advanced to grant a valid rehabilitation therapy for persons with physical disability of upper limb motion. The authors have focused on the control system based on the use of electromyography signals as an input to drive the joint movement and manage the robotics arm. The correlation analysis between surface electromyography signal and the force exerted by the subject was studied in objects’ grasping tests with the purpose of validating the methodology. The authors developed an innovative surface electromyography force–based active control that adjusts the force exerted by the device during rehabilitation. The control was validated by an experimental campaign on healthy subjects simulating disease on an arm, with positive results that confirm the proposed solution and that open the way to future researches

Massive young stellar objects in the N66/NGC346 region of the SMC

We present HK spectra of three sources located in the N66 region of the Small Magellanic Cloud. The sources display prominent stellar Br Gamma and extended H2 emission, and exhibit infrared excesses at lambda > 2 micron. Based on their spectral features, and photometric spectral energy distributions, we suggest that these sources are massive young stellar objects (mYSOs). The findings are interpreted as evidence of on-going high mass star formation in N66.Comment: Accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal, acceptance date 21/03/2018 (includes 12 pages, 5 figures

Rhizophagus intraradices or its associated bacteria affect gene expression of key enzymes involved in the rosmarinic acid biosynthetic pathway of basil

In recent years, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been reported to enhance plant biosynthesis of secondary metabolites with health-promoting activities, such as polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamins, anthocyanins, flavonoids and lycopene. In addition, plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria were shown to modulate the concentration of nutraceutical compounds in different plant species. This study investigated for the first time whether genes encoding key enzymes of the biochemical pathways leading to the production of rosmarinic acid (RA), a bioactive compound showing antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, were differentially expressed in Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil) inoculated with AMF or selected PGP bacteria, by using quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR. O. basilicum plants were inoculated with either the AMF species Rhizophagus intraradices or a combination of two PGP bacteria isolated from its sporosphere, Sinorhizobium meliloti TSA41 and Streptomyces sp. W43N. Present data show that the selected PGP bacteria were able to trigger the overexpression of tyrosine amino-transferase (TAT), hydroxyphenylpyruvate reductase (HPPR) and p-coumaroyl shikimate 3′-hydroxylase isoform 1 (CS3′H iso1) genes, 5.7- fold, 2-fold and 2.4-fold, respectively, in O. basilicum leaves. By contrast, inoculation with R. intraradices triggered TAT upregulation and HPPR and CS3′H iso1 downregulation. Our data suggest that inoculation with the two selected strains of PGP bacteria utilised here could represent a suitable biotechnological tool to be implemented for the production of O. basilicum plants with increased levels of key enzymes for the biosynthesis of RA, a compound showing important functional properties as related to human health

Immune-mediated inflammation promotes subclinical atherosclerosis in recent-onset psoriatic arthritis patients without conventional cardiovascular risk factors

Studies on the inflammatory burden in recent-onset psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients without conventional cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) are not available. This preliminary study focuses on cardiovascular risk in cutaneous psoriasis (CPs) and recent-onset PsA patients. Blood biochemistry (glucose, cholesterol, uric acid, lipid profile and apolipoprotein B) was analyzed using standard kits. Proatherogenic inflammation markers, C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and endothelial activators monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Ultrasound images allowed measuring carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). Our study first shows an increase in cIMT, and in serum levels of sICAM-1 and CRP in recent-onset PsA patients not presenting conventional CVRFs over the non-medicated time-period, from disease diagnosis to the beginning of pharmacological treatment, compared with healthy subjects. The outcome highlights the importance of monitoring serum level of sICAM1, CRP, and cIMT, and the value of primary prevention in psoriatic patients even with no history of cardiovascular events.Fil: Kolliker Frers, Rodolfo Alberto. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas; ArgentinaFil: Cosentino, Vanesa Laura. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Tau, Julia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Patología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Kerzberg, Eduardo Mario. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Urdapilleta, Adriana. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Chiocconi, Monica. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Kogan, Nora. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Agudos "Ramos Mejía"; ArgentinaFil: Otero-Losada, Matilde Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas; ArgentinaFil: Capani, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas; Argentina. Universidad Argentina "John F. Kennedy"; Argentina. Universidad Autónoma de Chile; Chil

The Spitzer Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Discovery of Embedded Protostars in the HII Region NGC 346

We use Spitzer Space Telescope observations from the Spitzer Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (S3MC) to study the young stellar content of N66, the largest and brightest HII region in the SMC. In addition to large numbers of normal stars, we detect a significant population of bright, red infrared sources that we identify as likely to be young stellar objects (YSOs). We use spectral energy distribution (SED) fits to classify objects as ordinary (main sequence or red giant) stars, asymptotic giant branch stars, background galaxies, and YSOs. This represents the first large-scale attempt at blind source classification based on Spitzer SEDs in another galaxy. We firmly identify at least 61 YSOs, with another 50 probable YSOs; only one embedded protostar in the SMC was reported in the literature prior to the S3MC. We present color selection criteria that can be used to identify a relatively clean sample of YSOs with IRAC photometry. Our fitted SEDs indicate that the infrared-bright YSOs in N66 have stellar masses ranging from 2 Msun to 17 Msun, and that approximately half of the objects are Stage II protostars, with the remaining YSOs roughly evenly divided between Stage I and Stage III sources. We find evidence for primordial mass segregation in the HII region, with the most massive YSOs being preferentially closer to the center than lower-mass objects. Despite the low metallicity and dust content of the SMC, the observable properties of the YSOs appear consistent with those in the Milky Way. Although the YSOs are heavily concentrated within the optically bright central region of N66, there is ongoing star formation throughout the complex and we place a lower limit on the star formation rate of 3.2 x 10^-3 Msun/yr over the last ~1 Myr.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures (3 in color), 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Diagnostic delay of oral squamous cell carcinoma and the fear of diagnosis: A scoping review

The mortality rate of patients affected with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has been stable in recent decades due to several factors, especially diagnostic delay, which is often associated with a late stage diagnosis and poor prognosis. The aims of this paper were to: analyze diagnostic delay in OSCC and to discuss the various psychological factors of patients with OSCC, with particular attention to the patient’s fear of receiving news regarding their health; and the professional dynamics related to the decision-making processes in cases of suspected OSCC. A preliminary review of literature focusing on OSCC diagnostic delay was performed. Seven articles were included with the diagnostic delay ranging from 45  days to approximately 6  months. Patients’ fears and, to a lesser degree, the concerns of dentists, were found to be still poorly investigated. On the basis of the authors’ professional experience, the development of oral lesions of unknown origin may generate different behaviors in the decision-making processes by patients and clinicians, and fear may play a key role in the distinct steps of this process. It is crucial to increase awareness and inform patients about the onset of OSCC, and contemporaneously encourage experimental studies on patients’ fear and professional behaviors with respect to communication regarding OSCC